Following Destiny
by Doctor Shmosby
Summary: Desmond has dreamed his whole life to become a Pokemon Master and now he finally gets his chance. Follow Desmond as he journeys through many regions to finally become the Pokemon Master he was meant to be.


Chapter 1: Following The Dream

"I am Desmond Miles!" said a 17, nearly 18, year old boy as he look into his mirror, adjusting to his new clothes. The boy looked into the mirror at himself. He wore black cargo shorts, a red t-shirt with a black unzipped vest, red converse, and a black baseball cap. "And now that I've graduated from School, I'm allowed to finally follow my dream and finally get my Pokemon license!" Desmond would have gotten his Pokemon license when he was ten like other boys and girls, but he wasn't allowed to as his Mother forebode him to cause she wanted him to finish school, but his Dad was lenient to it at first, but then agreed with her in the end. But now that he was older and could make his own decisions, He was going to follow his dream to become a Pokemon Master, though one of his Parents wouldn't be too happy about it.

"I will journey throughout the regions and gain the knowledge and wisdom of Pokemon training," he said as he got into a stance and pointed at himself in the mirror. "And I declare to the Pokemon throughout the world that I, Desmond Miles, will be a Pokemon Master!" Then held up his hand as if he was holding up an invisible ball of some kind. "Now, go! My -"

"Desmond!" shouted a womanly voice, surprising Desmond and making him lose balance, falling to the ground. He looked up to see his mother, dressed in her nightgown, standing in the doorway looking stern as ever. "What in the world are you doing up at this late hour? It's midnight and you should be fast asleep!"

"Mom, it's the summer," Desmond replied as he stood up to his feet. "And I don't have school anymore either. Besides, I'm going to start my Pokemon training tomorrow, and I can't even sleep."

"Excuse me?" Desmond's mother, Delores Miles, said. "Who said you can start your Pokemon training? I specifically remember telling you that you are not allowed to start your Pokemon training and to go wandering around the country into god knows what!"

"What?" said a shocked and disappointed Desmond. "What do you mean I can't go? I thought our agreement was to finish school and then i could go start training. You and Dad both agreed to it!"

"I never agreed to no such thing," Delores replied.

"But mom, you have to let me go!" Desmond begged. "All my friends have already left me and Im practically the only person here who doesn't have a Pokemon."

"You have Absol," Delores said. "He's your Pokemon."

"Mom, Absol's Dad's Pokemon, not mine, and besides, he's not that great. All he does is chop wood and be lazy. He doesn't even listen to me," Desmond said with a sigh and then sat on his bed. "Why won't you let me go? Dad did when he was my age or younger, and so did his dad and your dad, so why not me?"

"Because I said so," Delores replied with a stern voice. "I don't want you to go out there and that's final! You are to go to College and become a Doctor!"

"But what if I don't want to be a Doctor," Desmond murmured with his head bowed. Delores sighed and sat down next to her son.

"Honey, you don't have to be a doctor," She replied, as Desmond looked at her with his eyes full of hope, thinking she was about to say what he hoped she was saying. "There are other jobs too," she said, as Desmond dropped his head in sadness. "You can become a lawyer or a politician or a scientist or even a teacher. But you are not going to be a Pokemon trainer, okay?" Desmond nodded solemnly. "That's a good boy, now get to sleep," she told him, kissing his forehead. She stood up and began to leave. "Sleep well, You and your father have a big day tomorrow."

Delores left the room, and Desmond stood up so he could put on his pajamas. A couple of minutes later, Desmond lied in his bed and stared at the ceiling with determination. 'I will become a Pokemon Master even if I have to run away to do it. I will follow my dreams.' And with that last thought, Desmond fell straight to sleep.

Desmond woke up at 8 in the morning with a plan in his mind. Seconds later, a middle-aged man walked into Desmond's room. He was a bigger replica of Desmond which meant that the man was his father, Maximus Miles. "Rise in shine, my little Machop, time for breakfast," Maximus greeted.

"Dad, I'm almost 18 years old," Desmond said a bit embarrassed, sliding out of bed and to his feet. "Do you think you can stop calling me your little Machop? It's a bit embarrassing."

Maximus chuckled. "Alright, I'll just call you my grown up, Machamp, how bout that?" he asked as Desmond walked in front of his father.

"I don't think so," Desmond said with half a smile. "But you can call me Desmond."

"Ah, yes, the Desmond," Maximus said, throwing an arm around his son's shoulders, and both began walking towards the kitchen. "The most ferocious Pokemon found in the Viridian Forest," he joked, causing the two to chuckle, but Desmond stopped and sat down in a chair in the kitchen. Maximus noticed his son's change in attitude, and he knew about what his mother had told him last night. Maximus sat down across from his son. "I'm sorry, son." he said, causing Desmond to luck up at his father. "I know you wanted to go Pokemon Training and your mother won't let you, but believe me, if there was a way for you to go, I'd support you 100%."

Desmond smiled a little. "Thanks Dad," he said and began to eat his breakfast. Seconds, later, Delores, and Desmond's 8 year old little sister, Melanie, entered the kitchen. Desmond tried not to look at his mother and continued to eat his breakfast.

"Good Morning," Delores greeted as she and Melanie sat down at the table to gather a plate of food.

"Morning, hun," Maximus greeted.

"Morning," Desmond murmured, not looking at his mother and continued to eat his breakfast in silence.

After breakfast, Desmond took a shower and got dressed. Him and his father were going into town to get a few things Desmond's mother said that they had needed. Minutes later, Desmond and Maximus were walking through the Viridian City, going into shop after shop, buying the things that Delores needed, but secretly, what Desmond needed for his plan so he could follow his dream. He secretly bought a sleeping bag, some rope, matches, small perishable foods, and a few other things he would need. He secretly added his items to his parents hoping his father would notice, and when he did, Desmond would make up an excuse. He also quickly put his items in its own bag so he could just carry it to his room and not have anyone see the items he bought.

Then finally, Desmond and Maximus stopped at their last shop when noon came around, both carrying a few bags of merchandise. Desmond was about to enter the place but stopped when he noticed his father hadn't moved yet. "Are you coming, dad?" he asked.

"Actually, I have to run a quick errand," Maximus replied, pulling out his wallet. "Here," he said, giving Desmond some money and a list. "Get these last few items for your mother while I go get something that I should've go a long time ago."

"Okay," Desmond replied with a puzzled look on his face, accepting the money and the list.

"I won't be too long," Maximus said and then walked off in another direction. Desmond sighed and walked into the last shop to finish shopping for his mother. Half an hour later, Desmond left the shop with few more bags in his hand. He saw his father kneeled down, rummaging through a new bag of items.

"Dad?" Desmond said, and when Maximus heard his son's voice, he closed the bag instantly and stood up to smile at his son in greeting, which looked pretty strange to Desmond. "What are you doing?" he asked his father.

"Oh, I just finished my errand and I thought I just wait out here for you," Maximus answered with a sheepish smile. "Now, let's go home, shall we?" Desmond nodded and the two began walking back towards home.

Desmond entered his home with his father following. He dropped his mother's and father's items in the sitting room and then quickly left for his room with his items. Desmond quietly shut his bedroom door after making sure no one was around. He grabbed his lucky blue backpack and began stuffing his new items inside, including extra clothes, and then, tied his new sleeping bag to it. When he was finished, he stuffed his bag into his closet where it would wait for tonight where he would finally fulfill his dream.

The day went on as normal with Desmond doing all his chores and whatever else he needed to do, all while he was thinking what the best way to sneak out was. Later that night, Desmond lay in his bed, waiting. When the clock struck midnight, he crawled out of bed where he was fully clothed in his black cargo shorts, a red t-shirt with a black unzipped vest, and red converse shoes. He walked over to his desk and sat down while grabbing a sheet of paper and a pen, and then continued to write down a goodbye note. He wrote how he was sorry about what he was to do, and how he didn't want to go to college at all but to become the Pokemon Master that he was meant to be. That it was his destiny.

Desmond finished his note and left on the desk. He stood up and walked over to his closet, opening his door, and grabbing his already packed backpack. He lifted the bag on his shoulders and took one last look around his room. 'This is probably that last time I'll ever see this room,' he thought. Desmond sighed and then left his room, quietly shutting the door.

Quickly and quietly, Desmond snuck through the house, trying not to hit or step on anything by accident. Thank Mew that he did not make any noise at all. Desmond then quickly continued to exit the front door as quietly as he could. He turned and jumped off his front porch.

"Finally, free at last!" he said, smelling the midnight air with his eyes closed. He began to leave when something made him freeze in his tracks. There, at the opening of the fence, stood a dark shadow. Desmond gulped as he bowed his head and walked towards the shadow thinking that he was caught by his mother. As he got closer, a face was revealed which turned out to be his father.

"Dad?" Desmond said, stopping in front of his father. "What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Maximus replied with a smirk on his face and his arms crossed. Desmond bowed his head. "But I already know why you're out here," he said, putting a hand on Desmond's shoulder, causing him to look up at his father in curiosity.

"What do you mean?" Desmond asked.

"I knew since this morning that you were going to try and run away to follow your dream," Maximus said to his son. "Heck, I even knew that day your mother said you couldn't go 8 years ago."

"But how?"

"Because I did the same thing when I was younger, my mother also didn't want to me to leave either, so i ran away, and like I am, my father was outside waiting for me, to say goodbye and to give me a few things," Maximus replied, then handed a bag to his son. "Here."

Desmond took the bag and looked inside. "Are these...?"

"Poke-balls," Maximus answered with a small smile. "Including, potions and Poke-food for your Starter pokemon."

"Starter Pokemon?" Desmond repeated, as he looked up at his father with a confused expression.

"Yes, Starter Pokemon," Maximus said, pulling out a Poke-ball. "You know, I would have let you get one during the day but we had to do some stuff, and your mother kept you busy, so I went out and got you your first Pokemon. And Mind you, Oak's starter supply was out, and he did owe me a huge favor, so he went out only and caught one for you. ," he said, handing Desmond the poke-ball.

Desmond look at the Poke-ball, wondering what Pokemon was inside. He pressed the poke-ball's button which opened, and the red energey was released, shooting in front of him, taking the form of a Pokemon. It had a white body. Its legs give it the appearance of wearing a dress. Ralts has a green "helmet" that has a red horn on the front and a smaller one on the back.

Desmond smiled. "So, he's mine?" he said, smiling down at the Pokemon, that looked up at him with curiosity.

"Yes," Maximus said. "He's yours. He will help you on your journey to become the person you are meant to be."

"So, are you sure you won't need me for anything else?" Desmond asked, looking up at his father. "I mean, what about all my chores?"

"You don't worry about that," Maximus said with a smile. "All you have to worry about is what Pokemon are you going to catch next," he said than reached into his back pocket and pulled out a dark blue squared device of some kind. "Here, I think you'll need this."

"What is it?" Desmond asked as he accepted the technical device and examined it by opening it up.

"Ralts," it spoke in robotic voice. "The Feeling Pokémon. Ralts is the pre-evolved form of Kirlia. It can use the horns on its head to read human emotions. Ralts rarely shows itself to humans, but may occasionally approach when it senses positive or happy feelings."

"What? Dad, this must have cost you a fortune!" Desmond said fiercely.

"Eh, it's okay, I took the money from your college fund," Maximus replied with a shrug. Desmond nodded and looked at his new item. "And speaking of college fund, here," Maximus said, handing Desmond one last thing. It was a white envelope, and Desmond looked inside it to find a lot of money.

"Dad, I can't take this," Desmond said, handing the envelope back to his father.

"Yes you can, don't be ridiculous," Maximus replied, pushing Desmond's hand away. "It's the rest of your college fund and since you're not going, you could use it on your journey."

"Dad, what if mom finds out about this?" Desmond asked. "She won't be too happy about it."

"You let me worry about that," Maximus answered. "Come here." and Maximus hugged his firstborn. "You know I've always been proud of you."

"I know," Desmond replied, hugging back his father. "And I was always proud of you too." Maximus smiled and pushed his son back a bit.

"Now, go on," he said, with a nod of his head. "And please don't spend all your money at once, use it wisely."

"I know," Desmond answered with a small smile, and walked past his father. "Come, Ralts." Ralts made a noise and reluctantly followed his new owner. And Maximus watched his son leave the good graces of his home and to live on his own, to follow his dreams, to follow his destiny, to become the Pokemon Master he was meant to be.

* * *

After half an hour of walking, Desmond and Ralts stopped at the entrance of Viridian Forest. "Well, Ralts, how bout we go find a place to camp, yeah?" Desmond said, and looked at Ralts who looked away. Desmond sighed. "Fine, come on," he said, and the two entered the forest and another half hour later, found a small clearing where the two could camp for the night.

Desmond set down his things down next to a small fallen log, and then began to gather some small forearm length sticks so he could make a fire. He set the sticks down and then some dry grass, and lit them on fire with the matches he brought, and a fire came to life. Desmond lied down his sleeping bag and sat down next to the fire while Ralts sat across from him. He was doing it. He was finally living his dream and now he won't stop until he gathered all badges, beat all Pokemon leagues and catches all the Pokemon he can get.

Desmond then lied into his sleeping bag. "Goodnight, Ralts," he said and then lied his head down and closed his eyes. Ralts lied down as well and said, 'Raal...' and too went to sleep.

The sun shone brightly as ever as Ralts woke up first and then walked off to look for food. Desmond woke up half an hour later, and yawned very loudly. "Wow, sleeping on the ground isn't really all that bad, huh, Ralts," he asked and turned to look as Ralts only to see that he was gone. "Ralts?" he said and the got out of his sleeping bad, put on his shoes, grabbed a couple of things and then began to look around for his Pokemon.

After about 15 minutes of looking, he hadn't seen Ralts anywhere, only some Caterpie and Weedle which he thought were cool, but couldn't yet catch them on his own. He needed Rals to help him with that.

"Hey, look, it's my lucky day!" shouted a voice. "It's a Ralts and I'm about to catch it!"

Desmond's head turned in shock in horror. That was his Ralts they were screaming about and were about to steal it. Desmond then began running towards the voice and found them seconds later. A young boy, about 13 years old, with a blue shirt and shorts was staring down his Ralts who was rummaging in a small berry tree.

"No! You can't!" Desmond shouted, stopping a few feet away. "Leave him alone!"

"Hey, keep it quiet Kid," the boy shouted back with a smug look, tossing a Poke-ball in his hand. "And stay back, this Ralts is mine!"

"Kid?" Desmond repeated with a puzzled look. _I'm older than him. Who does this kid think he is?_ "Who do you think you are calling me Kid, I'm older than you!" Desmond shouted back, but he was ignored as the boy tossed the Poke-Ball.

"Go! Poke-Ball!" the boy shouted and threw the ball towards Ralts who looked up and saw the poke-ball coming straight towards him, so he swiped it away with his hand. "What! I guess we have to do this the hard way!" the boy growled, throwing another poke-ball. "Go, Machop!" he shouted, and the ball landed, opening, and releasing a new Pokemon.

Desmond quickly took out his Poke-Dex. "Machop, the Superpower Pokémon. Machop have muscles that never tire no matter how much they excercise. Its special attack is the Seismic Toss." It said in its robotic voice.

"Go, Machop, Low Kick!" the boy ordered his Pokemon.

"Machop!" Machop growled, running towards Ralts to kick him.

"Ralts, look out!" Desmond shouted, running towards his Pokemon. Ralts lifted his head and saw Machop coming his way, then jumped out of the way once Machop gave a kick. "Ha!" Desmond said, stopping in his tracks with a fist in front of him. "Now, Ralts, Teleport!" he shouted, shocking the younger boy.

Ralts turned towards Machop and then disappeared in purple light, appearing right behind the Machop in a couple seconds.

"Finish that Machop off with Confusion!" Desmond shouted at Ralts. But before Ralts could make a move, Machop was brought back by his owner and sucked back into its Poke-Ball. Desmond turned to the other trainer with a puzzled look. He was about to win his first battle even if it wasn't a real one. "Hey, what gives?" he asked the other trainer.

"I was under the impression that that Ralts was a wild one," the boy said. "But it obeyed you, and It seems as I was mistaken. I'm sorry for attacking your Pokemon." He said, bowed, and then ran off, leaving a still puzzled Desmond.

"That was weird," he said to Ralts who was back to the bush eating the berries that grew on it. "What are you doing anyways, Ralts? I wake up and you're gone? You can't be leaving me alone in this Pokemon infested forest," Desmond scolded to Ralts who looked to be ignoring him. "I could have been eaten by some bugs or something. Now, Come on, so I can get my things and then we can head to Pewter City," he finished and then began walking away. Ralts sniffed and then reluctantly followed his new owner.

After gathering all their things and packing them up, Desmond and Ralts began there journey through the Viridian Forest. The two walked for two hours, and for some reason, Desmond could have sworn he'd seen that tree full of Kakunas before. He stopped and stared at the yellow Pokemon.

"Ralts, am I lost?" he ask the Pokemon, and turned to see Ralts had not stopped in front of the Kakuna like he did, but a few feet behind him. He also noticed that Ralts was staring at the Kakuna. "Ralts? What's wrong?" Desmond asked with a puzzled expression. "Not afraid of the Kakuna, are you?"

"Rol," Ralts said quietly, keeping his place.

"Ralts, they're just plain ole Kakuna," Desmond said, trying to comfort his Pokemon. "They're harmless. I'll prove it to you," he said pulling out his Poke-dex.

"Kakuna, a transitional stage between Weedle and Beedrill. Kakunas remain inactive until they evolve into deadly Beedrills and hatch." the poke-dex said, surprising Desmond with the deadly Beedrill part.

"Oh, okay, I guess I can see where you're coming from, so how bout we get out of here," Desmond said as he put his poke-dex away and then began walking backwards towards Absol. "Even if they do hatch, you can take them on, right, Ralts?" he asked turning to Ralts who looked at his owner as if he was crazy. "Okay, I'll take that as a no."

And then, there was a loud crack. "Watch out!" Desmond shouted and began to panic with Ralts. "They're hatching!" He added and then both jumped behind a bush, trying to hide from the Kakuna. But after a couple of minutes, nothing was heard, no buzzing or wings, but something else was heard; footfalls and then a voice.

"Ha! What a couple of nutballs!" said someone from the place Desmond and Ralts jumped from. Desmond gave a sigh of relief as Ralts fell back in relief. "Why don't you come on out now, I won't bite, too hard."

Desmond and Ralts both stepped out of the bushes cautiously and were met with a boy, same age as Desmond, same height, with Blue spiky hair, blue eyes, wearing a long-sleeved black shirt with a blue x, black pants and shoes.

"Who are you?" Desmond asked, brushing himself off as Ralts stared down the boy.

"Rodrigo Church's the name," the boy answered pulling out a poke-ball and tossing it up and catching it. "And catching Pokemon's the game!" Desmond and Ralts glanced at one another. "Say, that's a nice Ralts you got there. Would you like to trade it for a Tangela?"

"No way," Desmond answered, shaking his head. "I will never trade Ralts for anything else. He's my first pokemon, and I will never just giving him away right after I got him. I will protect him no matter what."

"Heh, cute story," Rodrigo said, continuing to toss the poke-ball up and down. "Alright, fine, so how about a battle?" he asked, pointing the ball towards Desmond.

"Alright," Desmond agreed, then turned towards Ralts. "Are you ready for a battle?" he asked, and the Pokemon nodded its head, and so did Desmond.

"Alright," Rodrigo said and then threw his Poke-ball. "Go! Arcanine!" and then the pokemon, Arcanine appeared in front of Rodrigo. Its head is covered in a cream-colored hair, except for the region around its eyes and ears, which is orange. Its body is a combination of the same orange fur with black stripes and completely black fur on its belly. It also has patches of cream-colored fur on its chest, legs, and tail, resembling smoke. Its paws each have three toes and a round pink paw pad underneath.

"What?" Desmond said, pulling out his Poke-dex.

"Arcanine, the Canine Pokémon. While loyal to its master, the Acanine will drive away enemies by its Roaring and Fire Fangs," the Poke-dex told its owner.

"Whoa!" Desmond exclaimed, looking at the Arcanine. "It's a fire Pokemon!"

"Nice observation, kid!" Rodrigo said with a smirk as Desmond look a little worried. "I can tell by the scared look on your face that you're not too experienced at this!" he laughed. "Me? I have a lot of badges and already have over 40 Pokemon in my possession, and that means that you just started your journey. What a loser! Everyone knows that you can start at the Age of 10. What, did mommy and daddy not let you go on your little adventure afraid you might get a boo boo!"

Desmond clenched his fists in anger and annoyance. "Shut up," he growled. "Alright, let's do this!"

"Rol!" Ralts said, moving forward, as Rodrigo smirked and the two stared down one another as the gray clouds above gave off thundering sounds.

"Go, Arcanine, use Flamethrower!" Rodrigo shouted, an Arcanine opened it's mouth releasing gulps of massive fire towards Ralts.

"Absol, Teleport it!" Desmond ordered, and Teleported to the right, away from the line of fire. "Now, use confusion!" Ralts faced Arcanine, putting his hand on his head, his head giving off a purple aura.

"Arcanine, use Extreme Speed, attack him before you get hit!" Rodrigo ordered. Arcanine then ran so fast that its legs become a blur and was surrounded by white and clear aura and pushed Ralts who hit the ground, and then appeared behind the Small Pokemon. "Now, use, OverHeat!" Rodrigo ordered. And it all happened all so suddenly. Arcanine opened its mouth and formed a ball of white fire with a red-orange stream of fire spiraling around it. He then continued to fire a stream of white fire with red-orange fire around it from the orb at Ralts.

"Ralts!" Desmond shouted as he watched his only Pokemon be engulfed by Arcanine's flames. "No!" he screamed as Rodrigo laughed, and then it was over. The fire was over, but the forest was on fire, and Ralts layed down on the ground barely conscious and very injured from the fire. Desmond ran to his steaming and injured Pokemon and kneeled over him. "Ralts, are you okay?" he asked, but there was no answer, just heavy breathing.

Rodrigo walked up to the two, already have returned Arcanine to its poke-ball. "So, pathetic," he said as Desmond glared up at him. "You suck as a trainer. Why don't you just go home and give up on life." Rodrigo the turned away and began walking away.

"Hey, what about the forest!" Desmond shouted, causing Rodrigo to stop and turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What about it?" he asked with a sneer as Desmond stood up.

"It's on fire, don't you think you should put it out?" Desmond asked.

"Psh, why should I?" Rodrigo replied. "Do you think I give a crap about some forest? Ha!" he laughed and then walked off.

Desmond growled, then went back to his Pokemon. What was he going to do? He couldn't just leave this fire going. There had to be something he had to do. And as if his prayers were answered, it started to rain.

"Good," he said and then took out a poke-ball. "Okay, Ralts, you have to get into the poke-ball." Desmond pushed the poke-ball towards Ralts who weakly pushed it away with his hand. "Come on, Ralts. If you don't get in the Poke-ball, you may die, okay. So please, get in. Please? I don't want to lose you already!"

Ralts and Desmond looked into one another's eyes, and then Ralts nodded. Desmond smiled and held the poke-ball in front of him, and Ralts was then put into the Poke-ball. Desmond smiled and put the poke-ball in his pocket, and then took out his rain jacket, where a compass fell out, and put the jacket on. He looked down and picked up the compass.

"Of course, I forgot I had this," he said to himself and then looked at the compass and began walking north. _Okay, now I have to get out of this forest and to Pewter City as quick I as I can! For Ralts_, he thought and then began running as fast as he could.

* * *

I'm gonna be the very best, Like no one ever was! To catch them all is my real test, To train them is my cause!  
I will travel across the lands, Searching far and wide! Each Pokemon to understand, The power that's inside!

Its you and me, I know it's my destiny!You're my best friend, In a world we must defend!  
My heart so true, Our courage will pull us through! You will teach me and I'll teach you, Pokemon!

Every challenge along the way, With courage I will face! I will battle every day, To claim my rightful place!  
Come with me, the time is right, There's no better team! Arm in arm we'll win the fight, It's always been our dream!

Pokemon!


End file.
